


With a Vengeance, She Came

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-29
Updated: 2007-03-29
Packaged: 2017-10-28 00:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Slade Wilson takes down a mage for a contract, he sets in motion events that will threaten all he holds dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With a Vengeance, She Came

The mage glared at the heavens, as he knelt there in the growing pool of his lover's blood. With his fingers in the blood that was still warm, he called a vengeance spell to mind, wishing the killer's worst nemesis come back to haunt him. The mage then collapsed in on himself, weakened by the discovery and the power the Furies took from him to grant his wish.

`~`~`~`~`

Dinah was glad this meeting was in Prague. They were both a little more willing to go out of their hotel when they were in Eastern Europe, as the chances of being recognized were slim. She was in high spirits, a vast change from their last meeting when she had tearfully asked him to let her have another chance in his life, fresh from learning Oliver Queen had cheated on her.

The man at her side was smiling too, enjoying his young lover's enthusiasm for life, and the way she had listened to him through half the night detail the story of the daughter he had just learned about. Her immediate acceptance of that daughter, of the fact he wanted to keep her safe by leaving her anonymously with her mother was a balm on his soul. It made him more at peace than usual.

The way that shone through in his posture, the obvious affection of the woman, were enough to make the watching brunette snap with anger. Gone just over a year, and yet here the man was cavorting with a woman that looked barely older than the son he had murdered would have been.

She seethed, her lips thinned to almost nothing as she watched them from the rooftop, cheek laid against the stock of her rifle. She looked through the scope at his face, remembering times she'd failed to kill him with bitter rage. Her finger started to tense on the trigger... but something whispered, //too easy... far too easy to give him that peace... No... better ways to hurt him than that...// She shifted the rifle slowly, bringing the girl into her sights instead, focusing in on her center of mass... And she felt nothing but satisfaction as she took the shot and watched the girl go down. _His_ body obscured her vision in the next moment as he dropped to the girl's side, and she turned her attention to expertly breaking down the rifle and leaving the roof.

Slade reacted to help his lover first, as he could take up the hunt once he knew how she was. For the first time in their affair he had cause to be thankful for her absurd costume, as he discovered its armoring had withstood the shot, but Dinah was still going to need medical aid, fast, as the impact damage from the shot was still dangerous where it had hit. With one futile look in the direction he thought the shot had come from, he set about taking her to help.

`~`~`~`~`

He made the roof, the only likely place for a sniper, some three hours later, having had to stay with her until the doctors were sure none of the internal bruising was severe enough to cause complications.

His keen eye played over the rooftop carefully, and finally found one thing, the brass from the shot. As he picked it up, his chest went cold with anger.

Only one person he had known used this ammunition, who would have any reason to come after him. Not only was this not her style, but also she had been dead for over a year.

`~`~`~`~`

//She has his damn luck!// Addie's eyes narrowed in anger as she walked away from the still-bemused orderly, her hand tightening into a fist. It hadn't been that hard to charm the man into telling her about the woman that was shot, how she was doing, after playing the concerned native a few moments. //Though I must give my bastard ex some credit for attempting to protect her--// Rage seethed through her even stronger on the heels of that thought, her body locking still as she struggled to contain it, //Unlike anything he ever did for _my_ family.//

It was long moments before she could move easily, longer before she could think clearly, //All right, then. The first shot didn't take... there are other ways. Recovery would be two floors up...//

...// She took the stairs up, stopping long enough to acquire a set of scrubs and slip into them as a layer of disguise, before walking out onto the floor in question, keeping her steps small and light, anything but the soldier's sure stride. Her Czech was more than good enough to let her pass as a nurse for no longer than she would be there.

She stopped at the momentarily empty nurses station, memorizing the patient names before walking on as though she were searching for a co-worker... and her steps turned back when she saw a too-familiar form in the ward. //Wintergreen. You always did love him too well... how does it sit, to be called to this new lover's side?// She left with her step still completely wrong, and the knowledge of which room the girl was in, for later use.

`~`~`~`~`

Slade strode angrily back into the room; his temper was up and through the roof as he handed the brass over to Wintergreen. He took a stand by the window, still trying to think through this.

"Would Waller be this insanely stupid?" he finally asked his friend, who had been very quiet.

"I wouldn't think so... but this is from..."

"Her rifle. Her special ammunition." His shoulders were tight. "She can't stay here. I won't have her caught in my life's mistakes, old friend. As soon as she comes to again, insist she get one of her 'friends' to come get her."

"Like hell," came Dinah's weak voice. "I'm the one shot, Slade Wilson, and if you think…"

Wintergreen tilted his head, listening to the defiant if weak tone of this woman's voice and the protective tone in Slade's immediately before... He had already known the woman must be important to his old friend, but not just how deep it apparently ran. He moved slightly closer to the bed, wondering if he would need to intercede in this.

Slade looked at her, and walked closer, laying a light but firm touch on her side, near the hit. Her wince and hissed breath made him narrow his eye. "Little Bird, what do you think you could do in this state?"

"Bait."

//Not again... not another Pat, please?// Work with Pat Trayce as he might, that didn't mean he was blind to the woman's faults. He watched the way Slade's shoulders moved as he took a breath and his own shoulders tensed--he knew that move far, far too well.

"No."

Her face set in hard stubborn lines. "Don't do this. Don't you dare push me away, right when you might actually need someone at your back!"

"I am not pushing you away. You're in no shape to have my back, little bird. Once you're somewhere safe, Wintergreen will be with me. And I don't want you getting any more caught up in my past than this shot has made you."

Wintergreen was a little surprised that Slade hadn't flatly denied her... Yet another interesting piece of this puzzle.

"You know I won't take long to heal…but I will listen on one condition, Slade." She reached out to him, taking his hand when he let her. "Stay in touch with me. I know how damn good you are, but still…"

Slade sighed softly. "I'll call you." He leaned down, kissing her forehead.

"You two go ahead, get clear, and I'll get a pick-up, alright?" she said, giving in completely to Slade's wishes.

He nodded once, stroking his hand up over her shoulder to her jaw. "Watch yourself, little bird. Use every evasive trick you know that you can right now." His face was set hard with tension and banked rage he was feeling. And under all of it there was something else, something that would not be easily recognized by her drugged mind.

Wintergreen studied her face for a few moments, mildly curious as to why they would need to leave before whoever these 'friends' of hers might be could arrive. She looked vaguely familiar, but it was not coming to mind for him as Slade guided him out to her murmured promises to be safe.

"We have work, once I know she's gone," Slade said, finding an incongruous spot to wait and watch that room.

Wintergreen nodded once, turning a long look between the room and his old friend, one brow arched, his brain running on a parallel track. //Who could have gotten Waller to let go of Addie's rifle? And why?//

It was only about ten minutes later, when a stunningly beautiful well-endowed woman walked to the nurses' station, and then to the room. There were amused sounds of arguing coming from the open door, before a nurse walked in there with discharge papers.

"That partner of hers can do something right on occasion." Slade looked vaguely amused for a fleeting moment. "Come on, Wintergreen. Nothing is getting through that one."

Wintergreen put that face--and the utterly impressive body--into his mind to run a search later, letting Slade lead the way out of the hospital, mind practically buzzing with questions about the speed the woman had apparently moved with, and how much had been done in that short amount of time. //Bodyguard and discharge papers in less than fifteen minutes? Who _is_ this woman?//

//And how damn long has he been seeing her?//

"We start with Waller," Slade growled, falling fully into hunt mode. "Find out who the hell he set on me, and why with her rifle."

Wintergreen wasn't going to argue with that. One, it made the most sense, and two, Slade was too furious to listen if he tried. Perhaps not in that order. "Let me talk to him, would you? First at least?"

"Yes." Slade would be scanning from a distance, to see what he could learn from the man's body posture while they talked.

`~`~`~`~`

Somewhat later, the hospital had a visitor again, one who was coolly going through the computer system to learn where her target had been moved. She ought to be off the recovery floor by this point. It hadn't been that difficult to run the names of the people in surgical recovery through a few databases--she still had people willing to work for her. Only one had been female, young, and fit the correct physical profile. That name, when run through the hospital's database, popped an AMA-discharge to her eyes, making them narrow to green slits. //Discharged AMA and moved? Well, well... she _is_ important to you...//

She'd returned under the assumption that the woman would still be bound to the bed, but she'd lost this chance... Perhaps the hotel room she'd been booked into would tell her something. She set the system to copy her the woman's chart once it was transcribed, and left, going to see what she could find from the hotel room.

From clothing and keys found in the room, Addie was able to pull together the profile of a wealthy, world-traveling woman. She couldn't find any financial records, and her attempts to acquire security footage were thwarted by the hotel's cheapness in recording over digital media every twenty-four hours.

She knew her ex would be doubly on guard and hunting her by now, so it was time to fade out, and let things die down for a time. //Let him chase shadows for a while.//

`~`~`~`~`

A full month passed, with Black Canary getting Martian assistance in healing faster, Deathstroke chasing every thread of a conspiracy while haunting Waller. The thin man had proved to not be in possession of Addie's sniper rifle, but neither Wintergreen nor Deathstroke were able to tie him to the case. Deathstroke left the man free and breathing, alerted Nightwing to potential trouble, then went to track down his hateful half brother. As he went to handle that, he dispatched Wintergreen to keep a close eye on Lili Worth and her daughter.

It took beating Wade nearly to death to be absolutely certain the man had not had a thing to do with the sniper attack. Deathstroke did not feel it was a waste of his time to have done so, looking almost in satisfaction at the man who would almost certainly take weeks to wake from his current state.

They were part way into the second month after the shooting, when Slade gave in to Dinah's concerns for him, finally meeting her down the seaboard from Gotham in a resort town. His Little Bird was more than pleased to see him, and wound up curling around him as they settled for the night.

It was from a dead sleep that both were awakened, by Slade's phone ringing with a tone that made him growl even as he was waking.

Dinah opened her eyes sleepily, feeling her pillow move under her, and her hand tightened on his shoulder as she tilted her head, watching and listening.

"Hello, Trayce," he said, his voice tight and none too pleased.

"I thought it was _you_ that had the damn immortality!" his ex's voice was thoroughly pissed off and more than threaded with pain.

"What the hell are you talking about, and what happened?" He sat up in the bed, hand roving over Dinah's hair as he encouraged her to stay against him anyway.

"Your damn ex-wife just _shot_ me. I was pretty sure you said the woman was dead!"

Slade's hand on Dinah clenched, almost bruising, as that news went right to a shocked core within him. He pushed the first shock away, and growled dangerously. "She is dead, Trayce. I was there when her body was incinerated by the Tamaranean's bolts."

Dinah heard that and froze, for just a moment, under that too tight grip on her shoulder. She then moved up his body, wrapping tight under his arm and closing her eyes when his reaction was to hold her closer

. "And I remember _that_ face and that voice _entirely_ too well, Wilson. It was her. I don't know how, or why, but if I'd moved a second slower we wouldn't be having this conversation. She caught me coming out of a meeting with a possible client, which meant I didn't have anything but my holdout. She ran me halfway across town before I could get to a drop of mine, and by the time I'd gotten in she was gone. Enjoyed seeing me running, the--" she managed to cut herself off.

Slade chewed over everything she had said, thinking about the missing rifle, the brass he had found. It was not, in any shape, by his logical mind at least, possible that Addie Kane could have come back. He was almost positive he would not have come back from that.

"Fax a report to Wintergreen," he finally managed to say.

"I'll do that. It'll be there by morning his time. Your damn past, Wilson--" she cut the snarl off again, and he could almost hear the shake of her head.

"Just get me that report," he said as coldly as he could. He hung up with her, and then just stared at the phone for a long time.

"Slade?" Dinah whispered.

"It's not possible." His voice flatly denied the possibility. She stroked at his face, drawing him around to look at her.

"That's what I said to Roy, about a year ago."

"I watched Starfire give her the mercy she'd asked me for, Dinah. There was nothing left to bury, much less bring her back by, despite the rifle..." //And why would she still... when she asked me to let her go to _our_ sons...//

"Ollie left nothing that even Superman could find," Dinah told him gently. "It might not be her, it might be a magical apparition…but we won't know until we lure her out."

"You are _not_ using yourself as bait." He was flatly refusing to consider it. The first shot had been bad enough. That whoever this was that had been set on him had now gone after Pat.. //The kids.// His eye narrowed. "I think I know the next target, if whatever this is has any grasp of Addie's knowledge..."

"Share it with me then, and we'll see if we can't catch the person in the act?" Dinah suggested. "Because I'm seeing this case though with you, Slade."

"Logan or Grayson, if anyone. Wintergreen is too good at protecting himself, and she knows it."

"Logan…Beast Boy? He stays pretty much with the other Titans, but Nightwing? No, He's out in the open a lot, by himself, down in the 'Haven. He's not safe at all." Dinah thought about it. "What would you prefer to do?"

"I did warn them, but it's been months, with no sign of trouble coming... If I had any belief it was Addie, I would believe that for Joey's sake she would leave them be, but this... has gone for one sniper shot and one close attack, while running me in circles..." He considered the options, possible attacks on the boy he considered a student, and liked none of them.

"Slade, we're going to have to force this onto a field of our choosing." Dinah knew he knew that, but she was trying to show him her plan was the best. "The fact she changed her method of attack…and her target…we have to offer her something too tempting to risk losing on a long range shot."

He glared at her, his back stiff with tension. "Dinah. The change in M.O. doesn't surprise me in the least. Sudden strike to put me off-balance, and a strike at vulnerability…then vanish to leave me chasing shadows. With Pat, there would be a grudge if it were Addie, so a more personal touch... And left her alive as a deliberate warning to me. Whoever this is, it was an invitation to come hunting her..." //Which is textbook psy-ops...// "Which doesn't mean she might not simply go back to sniping, and simply aim a little higher." His hand ran over her hair possessively.

She met his gaze evenly. "Then you convince the Titans to come watch over us as we try to lure the person out," she told him. "I'm willing to run the risk, Slade…because I trust you to be good enough."

He wasn't sure he managed to hide the slight flinch at that as his mind flicked to the last time someone important to him had likely trusted him to be good enough... "I can convince the Titans. First, tell me what you're thinking to draw her out." He wasn't, yet, willing to concede the field.

"You and I meet in Europe again; I play nervous, you…much as I hate to say this, need to do a piece of business before meeting me, to make it look normal," Dinah began. "You make a show of trying to soothe my worries…and the Titans watch like hawks."

Slade's eye narrowed as he considered that. "It would not be unreasonable for you to stay where a shot can't be made, in that case..." It was fairly obvious just how much he disliked this idea, but he had to admit his lover had a point. Better to set a trap than keep chasing shadows.

"So if this assassin takes the bait, while we're there, it will be in close. And we have to assume she doesn't know who I am, as I have not been invisible…" Dinah nuzzled him closely.

"I'm simply grateful your other identity is so well-built," Slade agreed with her. "Shouldn't expect your capability in a fight, especially if you act as much the air headed-blonde as I know you're not."

"It's served me well, love." She smiled, thinking of how well she convinced him she knew nothing of guns. "So, you set up the details, and we do this, say two weeks from now, once the Pat Trayce thing is fading?"

He nodded, once, still not pleased about the situation, but two weeks should give him time to manipulate as much of the situation to their benefit as possible.

After seeing he had conceded, at least mostly, she pressed up to him, lips finding his as she tried to distract him from thoughts of his life.

`~`~`~`~`

Dinah could feel the pressure of eyes on her every move, but was unsure if they were the friendly ones or the killer they knew was out there. She and Slade had been living in a hotel in Denmark for two days now; Dinah had been there two days extra before that.

One set, at least, belonged to a steadily angrier assassin whose target was simply refusing to cooperate with her attempts on the blonde's life. She seemed to have an almost uncanny knack for avoiding the open areas, //Simple fear, girl? If you'd stayed gone, I might have left you be...// and had checked into one of the hotels well known for guarding both the privacy and the persons of their guests.

Dinah had switched to the armor she had worn when she first met Slade, wearing it under her clothing with ease. There were days when she truly could have kissed Barbara for updating her style, even if she had rebelled and gone back to her traditional costume. She had have to give it up tonight though, as Slade was taking her to a restaurant, ostensibly to show her his commitment to her.

Knowing she was completely unarmored had Slade's nerves even more on edge than they had been, and he, too, could feel the eyes on them. Troia had already taken a place inside the restaurant, looking as much unlike herself as she could. A dark-plumaged bird had followed them to the restaurant--Logan, who had agreed to dye his feathers for the time being. The rest of them were out there, but staying as much out of sight as possible.

Addie had known where they intended to be tonight, and had hidden her dark hair below a deep auburn wig. After she changed the shape of her body slightly with some careful tailoring and altered her posture with a slump of her shoulders and spine that made her cringe, she came in with someone she'd paid well for the night and settled at a table that barely had a line of sight on them. Her anger kept surging at the attention he paid this girl, and her eyes were dangerous behind the colored lenses.

The girl kept simpering up to her companion, finding excuses to touch his hand, his neck, even kissing him once across the intimate table they shared. Between the second and third courses, she excused herself, taking her little handbag and heading for the ladies' room.

She was followed not long after, the woman following her leaning across the table to peck her companion's cheek before walking towards the bathroom, posture utterly unconcerned, until she walked into the lady's room. Rooms, actually, given the small parlor before the vanity and stalls.

The girl she had followed was at the vanity, looking down into her handbag. She seemed to have that little edge of awareness that made her look up a moment after Addie positively identified her target.

The room was otherwise empty, and Addie moved, gun coming out and up smoothly without a trace of remorse in her dark eyes--and also without a word. The girl's eyes widened, taking in the weapon and her assailant, but there was no trace of fear as that young body suddenly tensed into full warrior readiness, and a foot came up at an impossibly acute angle, to kick the gun almost as Addie fired. Dinah hissed as the bullet caught her shoulder, but the silenced shot was already drawing her nigh-invulnerable bodyguard.

Addie hissed as the kick //damn fast, _hell_ // snapped into her gun and her wrist, numbing her fingers enough to send it clattering to the floor, but she moved to close, striking with her uninjured arm for her throat.

"Sorry, lady, but too many like to do that," Dinah said, keeping Addie's attention with a quick punching combo. It was strictly to distract, as Troia was _there_ suddenly, a single solid blow landing just so behind Addie's ear, sending the woman down into oblivion.

Troia caught the falling woman, frowning. "Her hair's wrong." She tugged lightly at it, and the wig came away in her hand. "That'd explain it. Damn. Sorry, Dinah, I was looking for _her_ , and shouldn't have been..."

"Honey, you got it here just fine." Dinah grabbed a hand cloth and tended the graze across her shoulder. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say I could have taken her in close quarters," she teased. "But very glad for the assist."

"You probably could have, but I'd rather not have your lover decide I'd look better shorter by a head for not protecting you." Donna's smile was wry as she worked at quickly securing the woman, and then pulled a communicator from her own bag. "Guys? Got her. Going to bring her out the back."

"Got that, Troia." Nightwing's voice was tight. "Black Canary is okay? Arsenal's shooting daggers at me."

"She's fine." Troia made a small roll of her eyes. "Tell the featherhead to cool it." Troia settled the unconscious body over a shoulder, leaned down to pick up the gun, flicked a smile at Dinah and headed for the back doors.

Dinah finished tending the graze, and pulled her phone out. "Slade…Meet me at the ladies' room with your jacket, please?"

He was in the hallway moments later, and his jaw set hard at the sight of the graze across her shoulder. She shook her head, taking his jacket to hide the mark.

"It's nothing. I'll go back to the hotel; you go on and meet the others wherever you intended to."

He reached out and pulled her close, tangling his fingers possessively in her hair as he held her against his body. "It will look odd if we don't finish the meal, little bird, and I had rather not raise suspicion now. They can handle her for the moment."

Dinah looked very happy at that, leaning into him and accepting the possessive feel. "Good."

He kept her close for a long moment, and then released her enough to walk back to their table and pull her chair back, then take his own.

She kept his jacket on, having maneuvered the sleeves back enough, and purringly took back up the dinner, giving him her full, intelligent company now that she was not laying a role for a dangerous audience.

Much as he had enjoyed watching her play the coquette, having the woman he had come to realize he very much loved back in his presence was a welcome pleasure. They fell back into familiar, welcome patterns of discussion and snarkiness, finishing out the dinner before he took her back to their hotel. Tempting as it was to follow her in, he contented himself to a kiss that promised 'later' and pulled back.

"I'll send Harper back, if this looks like it will take too long," Slade promised her.

She nodded, leaned up to kiss him again, and turned to go in, leaving him to make his way to a safe house he kept in the city. He let himself in, waved the kids into standing down, and tilted his head at Troia.

"She's in where you told us to put her, and last I checked, she hadn't awakened."

"Good." Slade started removing hidden weapons. "I'm going to be awhile. Don't open the door until I say to."

"All right."

Nightwing watched him head in, wishing he'd had the brass to bug the room, just to know how things were going.

Troia spared him a look. "Do you really think he's going to be able to break through the Furies' compulsion with her?" After the alert from Slade the first time, the Titans had looked into the matter, and determined just what drove the assailant…learning it was Addie had just reinforced that it was Very Bad.

"No. I don't, but you know he's going to try."

She looked thoughtful a long moment. "Get Kory to take over from me here, Dick. I'm going to go get something to help out." She gave a small smile and took off.

"Okay, Donna..." //What are you thinking, Wonder-chick?// He went to find Kory and put _her_ on the door.

Addie was still unconscious, bound in the center of the stripped-down room, when Slade came through the door. He looked at the woman without a sign of emotion on his face, looking for the small telltale details that she might _not_ be the real thing. Then, he could just kill the imposter and be done with it…

Except, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt this was Addie Kane, brought back as the victim and tool of vengeance. And, despite his strong attachment to his Little Bird, he would always love Addie first and foremost.

`~`~`~`~`

Donna walked down from the roof of the house, a long curl of gold carried in her left hand, still feeling the low thrum of its latent power. Diana hadn't been all that pleased to let her take it without a word of explanation more than "Titans' business," but she'd let her after a bit of an argument. She looked for Dick first, then Slade, her head cocked to the side curiously.

Slade was prowling near a window in the main room of the safe house, looking none too pleased with life…and on the verge of making a Slade-logical, idiotic mistake.

"No luck?" she mouthed at Dick, and then looked towards Slade. "Slade... think this might help?" She swung the lasso over her hand, catching his attention.

Slade looked at it, remembering another time, another Greek Demigoddess. "It…just might, Troia." He would have to tolerate her being in the room, let her hear things he had never wanted to say aloud to another human being other than Adeline.

She nodded, walking towards the room Addie was held in, shifting the lasso in her hand. She glanced at him as she pushed the door open. "Let me try with her, first?"

He closed his eye, wanting to say 'no', wanting to spare Addie what this might do to her. "Very well." He would wait for Donna to try and talk the truth with his ex-wife.

`~`~`~`~`

It was almost half an hour before Donna came back out, traces of tears on her face and anger in her eyes, shaking her head. "She refuses to listen to anything I say of you. Or they do. I'm not sure. But you're going to have to talk to her for this to have a chance..."

No matter what she had tried, the woman had blazed venom in her face and voice, the unreasoning wrath that was such a trademark of the Furies' way...

Slade nodded slowly. "Come then." If this did not work, he was going to have to let Addie kill him. Maybe then the compulsion would leave her. Of course, then he would have to be contained until his own insanity passed. "Let me speak to Grayson a moment while you get your composure, girl."

Donna nodded and went to get enough of a drink to wet her throat and settle down. Arguing with Addie had ripped open old wounds.

Dick walked over to Slade, tipping his head to the side curiously.

"Kid…" Slade looked at the young man he had taken such pride in helping to shape. "If this doesn't work…I'm going to need you to do something."

"What, Slade?"

"I'm going to let her do what she needs to. And then you have to get her out, lock that room down, get the team out, and call Wintergreen," Slade said very bluntly.

"Let's hope it _doesn't_ go that far, okay?" Dick really didn't want to have to deal with that. "But... all right."

"They did pick the one woman with the most reason to hate me, to do this," Slade said with a smile. "And we all know Addie's stubbornness." He got very serious for a long minute. "Just…don't let Dinah find out, if it comes to that."

"Alright. I'll stall her as long as I can." The idea was not a good one at all. "If it comes to that," he added quickly.

The elder man nodded once before going to the door to wait for Donna. When she came back, they both walked in, and Slade prepared himself for the worst conversation he could ever have.

Green eyes blazed at him as Addie fought against the bonds for a moment, hot rage painted across her face before the first words spilled from her throat. "I'm surprised to see you again... I thought you'd have left to nurse that girl you've decided to bed."

"Adeline, I'm not here to talk about her. I'm here to help you," Slade said firmly, pushing thoughts of what Addie had done to his Little Bird away.

"The _last_ thing I need in the world is your _help_ , Wilson!"

Slade reached out, and Donna stepped forward, holding out one end of the Lasso. Slade wrapped it around his palm, and closed his hand to a fist. "Addie, I love you. And I am not leaving this room until you are free of the compulsion that is guiding you, no matter what it takes."

"And what did your love _ever_ gain me but heartbreak, two dead sons, and madness?" Addie spat back at him.

The man actually flinched, compelled by the Lasso into honesty, showing how much her words hurt. "Nothing, Addie. For all that I ever wanted to be with you, I failed you. I lied to you, I neglected to remember just how capable you were when I chose to lie to you, and I failed to remedy the lie when I had a chance."

The woman stilled completely in her bonds, shocked by the admission from the man she hated and had hurt her so badly. "Yes. You did. And killed my sons by it."

"Joey, yes. Grant was not my fault, other than by virtue I was not there to help you raise him." Slade seemed shaken as he admitted that truth. He knew Troia had to be just as shocked, considering what he had done in the name of Grant's death. "I put my pride in front of our family, and it cost Joey his voice, and cost me our family. I was wrong then, and did nothing over the years to correct the mistakes made."

Addie's voice went to rip out, and Donna wrapped the other end of the Lasso around her before either could register the move, not willing to allow the Furies' hate to lash at the man that was being so astoundingly honest, and Addie's mouth snapped closed again. Whatever vitriol she'd been about to spill, the Lasso saw it as a lie. "Your damn pride... I'd have shot you again had you come near m--our sons again, but still I blamed you for not being there to temper him..."

"I know. I accepted the blame. I lashed out for having to accept that blame." He stayed perfectly still, trying hard not to give in to the urge…the need…to touch her while they said the things that had lain between them too long. "I have had reason to wish I had not moved that day, when you did shoot me."

Her lips curled with the furies' anger at a slayer-of-kin... but the ice and rage in her eyes was starting to thaw. "...probably not half as much as I have wished I'd aimed better... I... _Why_ let a stranger bring me news that you had killed my son!?"

The furies screamed for vengeance... the operative screamed to know the truth, while he could not lie to her.

Slade met those eyes, and nothing but raw pain and tortured memories blazed from his single eye. "Because to tell you meant I would have to face it fully, that I failed him, I failed you, and I would _never_ know the chance of setting things right."

"The man _I_ wed was never a coward. You more than failed him, you killed him."

"No." Donna's voice broke in despite the knowledge of how deeply she was invading both of their privacy. "The spirits of Azarath were responsible. Your husband free--" she suddenly choked, stopping, all of her belief in her words cut off by the Lasso's refusal to allow her to finish the words. //WHAT?!//

Slade looked at her, focusing on that shift. "You don't have to excuse me, Troia. I did as Joey asked of me. Even as I regretted the necessity, I learned as a soldier what mercy entailed."

"It's not an excuse, you fr--" She again could. not. say. it, and her eyes were so very confused as she turned the Lasso's power more fully on herself, forcing her own honesty, despite her lack of understanding. "I don't understand. Joey was already dying. He begged you to stop it, stop them, and you did... you were only trying to free him."

Addie trembled violently in the lasso's grip and her bonds as Donna's words struck through to the unreasoning hate driving her. Her son had been already dying...

"Troia…you said tried," Slade growled, suddenly intent more on her than his wife. "I set Joey…" The words stalled, as he felt a force of Truth blocking him from uttering what was, somehow, a lie.

"Great Gods..." Troia whispered, her blue eyes sickened.

Slade reeled as if physically struck, concentrating on the last few minutes of his son's life. The large man began to shake as the Lasso insisted that Joey had not died, that he was not free, the only thing that had enabled Slade to live with what he had done. "If not free…where?" he asked, even as his guts churned inside him.

"I don't know... but he die--" Donna looked to Addie. "Addie, say it again, if you can."

Anger boiled in her eyes again as the woman opened her mouth, "You ki-- my son is-- I cannot say my son is dead..." she said slowly, her words stunned and slow. "If I cannot say that my son is dead..."

"Then you cannot avenge a kin-slaying," Donna said, pushing the Lasso and her own will against the Furies infecting this woman.

The Furies were not easily pushed, and no vengeance had been met. They tried hard to keep their hold on Addie, pulling her to them, reminding her of the man's sins, committed through their lives, against her and her sons.

"Addie…forgive me…don't let them hold you, when now we have to find a way to save Joseph!" Slade implored her.

That call, that desperation to save the child they both so loved, was enough to force Addie Kane to _fight_. And the one thing that she had always been was a fighter. "My. son. needs. my. help. Let. me. Go." The words gritted out through her clenched teeth as she struggled with everything she was for the ability to fight for her son one more time. "Leave. Me!"

The eerie moan/wail and sudden surge of power in the room was evidence to the effort she brought to bear. No sooner ad the power stabilized than Slade was at her side, one hand going to the small of her back, the other one still wrapped in the Lasso stroking over her hair. He did not care if she resisted; he had to express his gratefulness in physical affection.

"Troia, get these bonds off her," Slade said fiercely.

Donna dropped down next to them, keys coming from somewhere to undo the bonds, freeing her quickly. "Addie..."

"Shut up, Troia, and go get your friends. You have a Titan to save. Slade..." her voice was thick with that last word, her arms going to hold to him. He let go of the Lasso so Troia could leave, holding his ex close.

"Shh, Addie. We'll help Joey, save him from whatever happened." He took her wrists and began rubbing at the marks the bonds had left.

Donna coiled the lasso and went out of the room in a rush, calling out as she did, "Titans!"

Addie snapped a wrist away from his grip and pressed into his arms. "I... do forgive you. I _had_ forgiven you..."

Slade closed his eye. "I believed it too," he told her softly. It was a large part in why he had been able to let his Little Bird get so close to him. "No more talk of that."

She tangled her hand through his hair, holding on. "Slade... We both made mistakes. Me for letting you lie so long--and so poorly... and yours you've admitted to..."

He looked down at her with a faint smile. "You don't make mistakes. You just miscalculate," he teased her, echoing a long ago retort she had given him once.

Her eyes flashed, but she remembered saying that just as clearly, and she couldn't help a small smile before she shook her head. "If you can admit yours, I can admit mine. And Slade?…there were some very good times."

He nodded slowly, feeling the pull to find those good times again, even as he realized she was _never_ going to be his again, and it was unfair to his current lover to even consider such things.

"Let's go rein the children in, and make a working plan for our son's sake."

She nodded and pulled out of his arms to stand, stretching to put everything she'd twisted in her fight against the bonds back in place, and smoothed her hair back, her jaw setting into those familiar, strong lines as she put herself back together.

Slade moved away completely, watching her, appreciating her strength, her beauty…everything that had ever attracted him to her still remained a firm pull. He betrayed none of it though, merely turning to escort her out to the common room. There, Donna was just getting ready to announce the news, as Roy was the last one to straggle in.

Donna took a deep breath, looked at her family, and wrapped both hands around the lasso. "Guys... Joey's not dead.

The room practically exploded with incredulous noise. Slade let it run its course, settling in to the role of team ally again, as his mind turned over the idea that Joey needed him. As he did, he could not help but feel uneasily aware that Joey had to be closer than any of them had ever suspected.


End file.
